The National Directorate of Security (NDS) – Afghanistan’s intelligence agency has prevented a suicide bombing in the capital of eastern Laghman province.

A statement released by NDS on Thursday states that Ihasanullah S/O Zabihullah was assigned by the militant commander Samarqand to carry out attack in a crowded area of Mehtarlam city but he was arrested before he could reach to his target.

NDS has confiscated the suicide vest Ihsanullah had with him at the time of the raid in Chehalmati village.

Meanwhile, six insurgents have been killed in joint security operation conducted by Afghan commandoes and police in Alingar District.

Sarhadi Zwak, spokesperson for the governor of Laghman province said the operation started in Salingar, Haidar Ghar and Qasaba areas early on Wednesday morning and continued till late evening in which five militants have been killed and another wounded.

Zwak added that one of the militants killed was a senior commander of the group.

25 militants belonging to the Islamic State (IS) or Daesh group have been killed and 31 others wounded in two air strikes in eastern Nangarhar province.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Thursday, the precise strikes were carried out in past 24 hours based on the coordinates of Afghan National Army’s 201st Silab Corps.

The press release further states that two gatherings of Daesh belonging to the group’s commanders Abdul Khaliq and Sayed Amarati were targeted in these attacks in Qala-e-Shikhan area of Deh Bala District leaving 25 killed and 31 others wounded.
“Sayed Amarti is believed to be among those killed,” the statement adds.
Several different types of heavy and light weapons of Daesh were also destroyed during the air strikes.

Nangarhar has become the hot spot of the militant group in eastern part of the country where it has also established prisons.

Only in Achin District, the group runs eight captivities where they possibly keep the around 300 villagers detained in the course of two months.

The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have released a photograph which purportedly shows a group of Taliban fighters captured apparently during a clash in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

The photograph was shared by the affiliates of the terror group in social media earlier on Thursday.

Although the authenticity of the photograph could not be verified, however the photograph carries a subtitle in Arabic language, saying the fighters were captured from Nazian district of Nangarhar province.

The affiliates of ISIS terror group and the Taliban militants have engaged in bloody clashes during the recent months and with the emergence of ISIS loyalists particularly in Nangarhar.

The Russian special presidential envoy on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said earlier that the loyalists of ISIS terror group demonstrates a hostile position toward the Taliban leaders, calling it a concern for the Taliban group as ISIS loyalists continue insurgency with an intention to ‘swallow’ other extremist groups, draw militants of all kinds into its ranks, in particular Taliban fighters themselves, redistribute sources of income, including such lucrative sources as drug trafficking.

Kabulov further added that confrontations between Taliban and ISIS terror group has flared up between Taliban groups and Taliban-ISIS loyalists following the announcement of Taliban group founder and supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar’s death in July this year and the appointment of new Taliban supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.

This comes as the US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter warned regarding the emergent threat of the terror group during a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Friday, however he said the threat posed by the terror group is being tracked very closely as they have started creating ‘little nests’ in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan Gen. John Campbell earlier said the loyalists of the terror group are attempting to establish a regional base in Jalalabad, the capital city of eastern Nangarhar province.

The loyalists of the terror group in Afghanistan also released a new propaganda video last week which purportedly shows the extreme violent acts of the terror group in Afghanistan.

Titled “Khurasan, The Graveyard of Apostates” the video shows suicide attack on a check post apparently belonging to the Afghan security forces using a Vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) and roadside bombings targeting the government vehicles as well the non-government organizations.

In other parts of the video, the fanatics of the terror group are shown beheading a man and execution of two other men by firing from a close range, and an ambush on a vehicle convoy of the Pakistani security forces as well as fierce gunfight.

The Counter Criminal Narcotics Justice Task Force (CJTF) officials said on Wednesday that the increase in drug production and trafficking in Afghanistan during 2015 is a matter of serious concern for the Afghan government.

According to the CJTF, at least 473 incidents related to drug trafficking and production have been registered by the organization and 598 suspects have been arrested in connection with these cases during 2015.

"Nearly 4.5 tons of heroin, 16 kilograms of morphine, 24.5 tons of opium, over 158 tons of hashish, 13,107 litters of alcoholic beverages, 136 light and heavy weapons and 275 vehicles were confiscated in nine months of this year," said Ahmad Khalid Moahid, a spokesman for CJTF.

According to the CJTF, Logar, Nangarhar, Kandahar, Nimroz, Kabul, Helmand and Badakhshan are among the top provinces where drugs are produced and smuggled.

Meanwhile, Daikundi, Khost, Kapisa, Bamiyan and Panjsher are the provinces where no incidents related to drugs production and trafficking were reported during the nine months of 2015.

The CJTF officials meanwhile called on the international community to help Afghanistan overcome the drugs problem.

"Drug [trafficking and production] poses a similar threat as terrorism. International institutions should help Afghanistan to overcome this problem," they added.

A number of analysts meanwhile believe that the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan has affected the Afghan government's counternarcotic campaign during the past year.

On Thursday afternoon, the Al Qaeda-linked Al shabaab have publicly executed five men accused of spying on militants for Somali government and U.S intelligence services. A witness who spoke to Radio Shabelle for fear of being beheaded on condition of anonymity said hundreds of Sakow residents have watched the execution of the five – one has been beheaded and the 4 others were killed by firing squad.

Abdinasir Ali Mohamed, 20s was publicly beheaded in front of a crowd, with an Al Shabaab judge saying, he was convicted of being informant for CIA and directing U.S. drone strike that killed to leaders.

Over the last four years, the Al shabaab militants have been driven from most of the key towns they once held but they still control rural areas in the south.

The Egyptian air force began intensive Arclight airstrikes on Thursday morning against a local branch of the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... group in Egyptian Rafah, near the border with the Gazoo Strip, local media reported.

Paleostinian sources were quoted by the Walla news site as saying that Egyptian fighter jets were entering Gazoo's airspace in their attacks on the Wilayat Sinaa group (formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis...Supporters of Jerusalem, the current pen name of al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula...), which has grabbed credit for numerous deadly attacks on Egyptian soldiers and civilians over the last two years.

Sky News Arabia reported that 15 people had been killed in the Arclight airstrikes.

Egyptian officials said Thursday that gunnies in the restive northern Sinai had shelled a home near a security checkpoint in Rafah, killing an entire family of five and wounding a teenage neighbor.

Medical and security officials said that one of the victims, a five-year-old girl, remains buried under the rubble of the demolished home. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to news hounds.

The head of security at the foreign ministry, Jamal Musa, is said to have been shot dead by Islamic State (IS) gunmen at one of their checkpoints near Nufliya, east of Sirte. His brother was also killed in the incident and his brother’s wife seriously wounded.

The killings took place yesterday when Musa and his brother were travelling back to Beida from their father’s funeral at Brak Al-Shatti. It is reported that they tried to speed through the IS checkpoint but were caught in a hail of gunfire.

The Deputy foreign minister, Hassan Saghir, has sent the government’s condolences to the family

The Royal Saudi Air Defence today morning destroyed a Scud ballistic missile fired from Yemen toward the City of Jizan, southern Saudi Arabic, according to a statement from the command of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to defend the country's legitimate government.

The Royal Saudi Air Force immediately destroyed the rocket launch platform located inside Yemen, the coalition command said in a statement, carried by the Saudi Press Agency, SPA.

The Scud missile was shot down with no collateral damage, the statement said.

[ALMANAR.LB] Battlefield sources told Al-Manar that the Yemeni army and popular committees launched an artillery attack on the a Saudi military gathering in al-Thawabeta in Jizan bordering city, killing 11 soldiers.

The Yemeni army and popular committees also repelled an attack on Harad, claiming a number of Saudi soldiers and the aggression's mercenaries.

Saudi has been leading a barbaric aggression against the Yemen, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of civilians and destroying the infrastructure.

[Dhaka Tribune] A radical Islamist preacher and his seven followers, all expelled students of a private university, have been convicted for the murder of secular writer and war crimes trial campaigner Ahmed Rajeeb Haider in the midst of the 2013 Shahbagh movement.

Motivated by a former leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... who was sentenced to death yesterday, the six other students of North South University planned the murder and killed Rajeeb with machetes in front of his house at Palashbari of Pallabi on February 15 reportedly for his writings critical of Islam.
Continued on Page 49

[RT] Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... has grabbed credit for Tuesday's attack on a group of tourists visiting a fortress in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan...a formerly inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca..., the US-based SITE Intelligence Group reported. Police have not confirmed there is a link to ISIS.

The attack in Derbent left one person dead and 10 injured Tuesday night.

The attack occurred when as many as 20 tourists were on a panoramic terrace of the ancient Naryn-Kala fortress, which houses Russia's oldest mosque and madrasa (Islamic religious school).

The person killed was a warrant officer with the FSB (the Russian Federal Security Service... the successor to the KGB...). One of those injured was a member of the Russian border service from the city of Bryansk.

According to the message, attributed to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorist group and made public by SITE, a group monitoring jihadist threat and propaganda, the hard boyz boasted about being able to attack Russian security service employees.

A front man for Dagestan's Investigative Committee, Rasul Temirbekov, declined to confirm an ISIS connection in the attack when asked to comment by RT, but said that according to one of the most likely theories, the violence was committed by "militants, some of whom had been allegedly fighting in Syria."

Police found 67 cartridges of various caliber bullets at the scene of the attack. According to Sherlocks, the assailants fired from a nearby forest.

The security agencies have uncovered the identity of those wanted in connection with the shooting.

"According to initial reports, three gunnies from a Derbent group were responsible, including its leader Abutdin Khanmagomedov. This is the same group that in the middle of December shot at fire trucks, when three members of the emergency services were shot at," a local security officer told RIA.

[AlManar]. Six people were being held Thursday for questioning over an alleged New Year attack plot in Brussels that led to the cancellation of a fireworks display and other festivities.

A total of eight people are now being held in the case, including two men who have been formally charged with terrorism-related offences following their arrests earlier this week, the federal prosecutor's office said.Belgium police

The six new suspects were detained following seven police raids in and around the Belgian capital in which computer equipment, mobile phones and "airsoft material" were seized, it added. Airsoft is a type of airgun.

An investigating judge will decide later Thursday whether to keep the six in jug or release them, the prosecutor's office added.

Belgian authorities on Wednesday cancelled the annual New Year's Eve fireworks display and other events in the heart of Brussels after revealing an alleged bad boy plot to attack "emblematic sites" in the capital during the holiday.

The city of 1.2 million people has been on high alert since La Belle France said several men involved in the deadly November 13 attacks in Gay Paree had links to Brussels, which is home to the headquarters of the European Union...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...The prosecutor's office said the two men already formally charged over the end-of-year plot had been ordered by a court to be detained for another month.

[CNN] Two train stations in Munich, Germany, were evacuated and train service stopped on New Year's Eve, a front man for the Munich police said, citing concerns of a possible terror plot.

Police have received "concrete information that strongly indicates that there are possible plans for terror attacks in Munich, specifically against the main train station and the railway station in (the western district of) Pasing."

Munich police said officials had deemed the information about the threat of an attack on New Year's Eve as serious and credible.

Authorities told the public additional officers were being called in to find possible suspects.

Police are also asking the public to stay away from large gatherings.

According to The Times of Israel, it may have been French intelligence which passed on the warning that five to seven ISIS suicide bombers planned to attack the train stations, and that 550 police officers were guarding the train stations and searching for the miscreants.

[ALMANAR.LB] Turkish security forces killed 3,100 Kurdish fighters in 2015, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... said Thursday, vowing no let-up in a relentless offensive to oust them from towns and mountains in the southeast.

His remarks, which were part of a televised New Year's address, come as alarm grows over the humanitarian impact of curfews in the southeast to back up the latest military campaign against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that began earlier this month.

"In 2015, 3,100 'terrorists' were neutralized in operations at home and abroad," he said referring to the military operations on PKK strongholds in southeastern The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and northern Iraq.

"Our security forces are flushing out the 'terrorists' from every inch of the mountains and the towns and will continue to do so," he said.

"Our fight.. will continue until the very end," added Erdogan.

It was not possible to independently verify the toll. Erdogan said another 200 members of the security forces had been killed, as well as an unspecified number of civilians.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also chaired a four-and-a-half hour meeting of top government and security figures that agreed to continue fighting the PKK "in the most comprehensive and decisive fashion," a statement said.

[AnNahar] Walking gingerly through streets littered with the rubble of damaged buildings and dead animals, residents of a mainly Kurdish town in southeastern The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... started to return to their homes after a 19-day curfew was lifted.

Authorities imposed the curfew in Dargecit in the province of Mardin on December 11 to back up a large-scale military operation against suspected Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in the southeast.

The curfew was implemented at a similar time to lockdowns in the towns of Silopi and Cizre in Sirnak province as well as the Sur district of the city of Diyarbakir which remain in place and have ignited controversy over the humanitarian cost of the measures.

Bodies of dead donkeys and other farm animals left a bloody trail on the streets of Dargecit and residents immediately set about removing the corpses, an AFP photographer at the scene said.

It was not immediately clear how they had been killed.

Crossfire. It's not like the noble Turks would deliberately destroy the possessions of enemy civilians in order to make the message absolutely clear.

Other residents carefully walked through the muddy streets of the town, inspecting the burned out wrecks of cars or homes that had been partly destroyed.

Special police forces maintained a heavy presence while hundreds of people also attended the funeral in Dargecit of one man killed in the fighting.

The authorities have said that two tonnes of explosives and numerous weapons were seized during the curfew operation.

- 'Fear and terror' -
According to official media, at least 22 "terrorists" were killed.

The army says more than 200 PKK murderous Moslems have been killed in the current campaign in the southeast which the government says is aimed at flushing out the Kurdish rebels from urban centers.

But the opposition pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) argues that the main victims have been ordinary people. It says 360 civilians, including 61 children and 73 women have been killed since the violence erupted this summer, shattering a truce after just two and a half years.

"Contrary to the claims of ensuring peace and security, the authorities create fear and terror among the people, recklessly kill civilians and destroy cultural heritage," the party said in a statement Wednesday.

Meanwhile,...back at the laboratory the smoke and fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... the authorities partially lifted the curfew in the Sur district of Diyarbakir, revealing streets where shopfronts were hidden from view by sandbag barricades erected during the fighting.

Spent bullets also littered the streets, which were eagerly gathered up by local children, the photographer said.

[FOXNEWS] A friend of one of the shooters in the San Bernardino massacre that killed 14 people was indicted Wednesday on charges that include conspiring in a pair of previous planned attacks and making false statements when he bought the guns used in this month's shootings, authorities said.

Took them long enough...

The indictment by a federal grand jury avoids the need for a probable cause hearing before a judge to determine whether 24-year-old Enrique Marquez Jr. should stand trial on the five counts.

The charges include conspiring with shooter Syed Farook to carry out attacks in 2011 and 2012.

Prosecutors said in court documents that Marquez and Farook planned to use pipe bombs and guns to kill people at the college they attended and others stuck in rush-hour traffic on a Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, freeway. The plots fizzled, and they never acted.

Marquez is also charged with two counts for saying in paperwork that two assault rifles he later gave to Farook were only for himself or his immediate family.

[Ynet] The US Justice Department arrest a man who planned to attack a restaurant in upstate Western New York on New Year's Eve; he is charged with providing material support to ISIS.

A 25-year-old man who planned to attack a restaurant in upstate Western New York on New Year's Eve has been tossed in the calabooseYou have the right to remain silent... and charged with attempting to provide material support to Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems...., the US Justice Department said on Thursday.

Emanuel L. Lutchman, "claiming to receive direction from an overseas ISIS member, planned to commit an armed attack against civilians at a restaurant/bar located in the Rochester, New York, area today," the department said in a statement.

Seeing the below, one wonders if the director exists on the same physical plane as the rest of us...

A criminal complaint against Lutchman, who appeared in US District Court for the Western District of New York on Thursday, described him as a "self-professed Muslim convert with a criminal history dating back to approximately 2006... as well as previous state mental hygiene arrests."

Goodness, he has been busy, poor man.

It said Lutchman expressed support for Islamic State in telephone conversations with a paid informant in November and December. It said that this month he was in contact with someone who identified himself as a member of the Death Eater group in Syria.

On Tuesday, he went to a Walmart store in Rochester with another informant and bought two black ski masks, zip-ties, two knives, a machete, duct tape, ammonia and latex gloves for the planned attack, the complaint said. He had no money, and the confidential source paid about $40 for the supplies, it said.

Prosecutors announced Thursday that 25-year-old Emanuel Lutchman has been charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists. He was snared in an FBI sting, the prosecutors said.

The FBI said Lutchman had an accomplice who was actually working for the agency. It said they bought knives and a machete for the attack.

According to the International Business Times, court documents claim that Lutchman had been in contact with an IS member abroad, who had urged him to "do operations and kill some kuffar" -- a plural term for non-Muslims.

The report said that Lutchman told his interlocutor that he hated the US and and was prepared to "give everything up" for the Islamic State. He reportedly recruited two friends to help him carry out the attacks. One of the two reportedly dropped out; the other was cooperating with the FBI, unbeknownst to Lutchman.

The report said the two allegedly considered placing a bomb inside the location and kidnapping and killing people, and urged wearing masks to avoid identification. According to the report, the pair purchased masks, gloves, zip ties, knives, duct tape, a machete and ammonia at a Walmart store on Tuesday night.

The report said that on Wednesday, the day of his arrest, Lutchman made a video on his phone swearing loyalty to IS chief His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us....

[Daily Excelsior] Two Lashkar-e-Taiba...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... (LeT) murderous Moslems were killed in an overnight encounter in Gusoo village of South Kashmire's Anantnag district.

The shootout started at around 1.15 am in Heerpora locality of Gusoo between hiding murderous Moslems and security forces.

Army's 53 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmire Police and 123 Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) cordoned off Heerpora locality on yesterday following inputs about the presence of 3-4 murderous Moslems of LeT hiding in the village.

The troops conducted searches in the area but could not find the murderous Moslems who were hiding in a house. They tightened the cordon last evening and entire area was lit so as to prevent murderous Moslems from fleeing the area.

At 1.15 am shootout raged and continued till 5 am in which two bully boys, including a foreigner, were killed.

The killed murderous Moslems were associated with LeT and were identified as Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, resident of Alochi Bagh in Pulwama and Mehmood Zargam alias Abu Ukasha of Pakistain.

The bodies of the slain murderous Moslems were taken to Pantha Chowk cop shoppe for medico legal formalities. Manzoor's body was handed over to his family, the body of Pak bully boy was handed over to the Auqaf committee members at Boniyar in Uri area of Baramulla district for burial.

Large number of people attended funeral of bully boy in Pulwama amid shutdown and festivities. The district observed a complete spontaneous shutdown amid festivities throughout the day.

Youth took to streets at Kakpora, Murran, Pulwama Town and other areas and resorted to heavy stone-pelting on Government forces who responded by firing teargas shells and pepper gas. The entire district including Pampore, Kareemabad, Samboora, Kakpora and other areas also observed shut down against the bully boys' killings.

An Army front man said: "In a major success in counter terrorist operations by Army and JKP, two hardcore LeT forces of Evil were eliminated in a fierce encounter which erupted yesterday evening at village Gasu of Pulwama district."

The front man said that Army and police had launched a joint search operation yesterday afternoon based on the intelligence inputs regarding suspicious move of murderous Moslems in general area of village Gasu, Pulwama.

"Army teams operating in the area while carrying out patrolling received a specific input of likely presence of forces of Evil in Harpura Mohalla, of village Gasu. The security forces cordoned off the suspected houses and commenced deliberate search of the houses. While search was in progress, the forces of Evil tried to break the cordon by firing indiscriminately following which an intense exchange of fire ensued", the front man said.

The front man said: "In the fire fight two hardcore LeT forces of Evil were bumped off. One terrorist was identified as Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, son of Abdul Rashid Bhat, resident of Aloochibagh, Kakapore, who joined LeT outfit in May 2015. The identity of the other terrorist, who was of foreign origin, is yet to be ascertained. The operation was undertaken by the Army with utmost care to ensure safety of the residents of the area."

"The operation also led to the recovery of two AK 47 rifles, four AK 47 magazines and other war like stores from the slain terrorists. The bodies of the forces of Evil were handed over to Police", the front man added.

[DAWN] KARACHI: An antiterrorism court sentenced on Wednesday a man to 14 years in prison in a case pertaining to a grenade attack on the consulate of Soddy Arabia...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...Zaki Kazmi was found guilty of carrying out the attack with his now dead accomplice at the consulate in the Defence Housing Authority in May 2011.

ATC-VI judge Abdul Naeem Memon, who conducted the trial inside the central prison, read out the conviction order after recording evidence of witnesses and concluding arguments from both sides. The court also ordered confiscation of the convict's property.

According to the prosecution, two grenades were hurled at the Saudi consulate on May 11, 2011, which damaged some windowpanes of a mosque inside the consulate, but did not cause any causality.

The police placed in durance vileDrop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! the accused in November 2011 in the Eidgah cop shoppe jurisdiction and claimed that he was affiliated with the 'Mehdi Force'.

The prosecution further said that acting on information of the detained accused, the police had raided a residential complex, Rabia City, in Gulistan-e-Jauhar to arrest the alleged criminal mastermind of the grenade attack, Syed Tabish Hussain, alias Asif Manu, but he put up resistance and was killed in a shootout.

Paperwork was started but nothing else was done under Section ¾ of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 read with Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997 at the Gizri cop shoppe.

[DAWN] BANNU: A huge quantity of weapons and explosives was recovered during a search operation in Ghulam Khan area of North Wazoo Agency on Wednesday.

According to NWA Political Agent Kamran Afridi, the political administration after getting information about presence of weapons in the area launched a search operation and seized a huge cache of light and heavy weapons, hundreds of cartridges and explosives from the deserted houses in the region.

Mr Afridi said that such raids would continue to clear the area of arms and ammunition and restore peace.

[ARA] ERBIL – The Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group executed three Kurdish men in Iraq’s northwestern province of Nineveh on charges of spying for the Peshmerga forces, local sources reported on Thursday.

The victims were arrested last week in Mosul. The ISIS-led Sharia Court issued a statement saying: “Based on interrogations, the men were convicted of spying for the Peshmerga.”

The Sharia Court order the militants to execute the three Kurdish men in public.

“They were shot dead in front of dozens of people after a member of the Sharia Court read the statement, threatening the Kurdish Peshmerga forces of facing defeat in case they try to invade Mosul,” a local activist and eyewitness told ARA News.

The Peshmerga army and Iraqi government forces, backed by the western coalition, have been preparing for a large military operation aimed at regaining Mosul city from ISIS militants.

This comes only two days after the radical group burned 20 media activists to death in Mosul city. The victims, who have been arrested in separate raids earlier this month, were executed on charges of leaking security information to “hostile parties”.

(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – On Thursday, a source in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced, that seven people had been either killed or wounded in a bomb blast east of Baghdad.

The source said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com, “This morning, a bomb exploded near industrial shops in al-Amin District east of Baghdad, killing one person and wounding six others.”

The source added, “A security force rushed to the area and transferred the wounded to a nearby hospital for treatment and the dead body to the forensic medicine department, while a raid was carried out to search for the perpetrators of the bombing.”

(IraqiNews.com) Kirkuk – On Wednesday, a security source in Kirkuk Province announced, that a joint force from the Anti-Terrorism forces and the American tactical forces had carried out an air landing operation in central Hawija west of Kirkuk (250 km north of Baghdad), while pointed out that 27 elements of ISIS were killed and eight other elements including prominent leaders were arrested.

The source said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “A joint force from the Anti-Terrorism forces and the American tactical forces had carried out an air landing on a house behind the Technical Institute in Hawija District (55 west km Kirkuk), killing 27 elements of ISIS and arresting eight others including foreign leaders.”

The source added, “The operation was carried out based on accurate information,” pointing out that, “The joint force managed to withdraw without any losses.”

(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Wednesday, Khalidiya Council in Anbar Province announced, that the security forces had arrested 20 members of the ISIS organization while trying to escape from the city of Ramadi (110 km west of Baghdad).

The Head of Khalidiya Council Ali Dawood said, “Today, the security forces were able to arrest 20 members of ISIS who were trying to escape from the areas of Ramadi that were recently liberated, along with a number of the residents of the city.”

Dawood added, “The detainees were transferred to the security detention facility for interrogation,” pointing out that, “The security forces are working to monitor the movements of ISIS gangs and searching for the criminals who are trying to hide amongst the evacuated families from the liberated areas of Ramadi.”

[ALMANAR.LB] Iraqi warplanes targeted Thursday ISIL terrorists' sites in Samara island in Salahuddine northern province. In a statement, the Iraqi defense ministry said that the air force managed to destroy one of ISIL's leading headquarters and a booby-trapped truck which was prepared by the terrorist group to target the security forces.

Two people were killed and eight others were wounded in a shooting attack which took place on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv on Friday afternoon. According to MDA spokesman Zaki Heller, the shooting took place near a bar located on Dizengoff 130.

Four victims remain in serious condition, three are in moderate condition, and one was lightly injured.

Israeli security forces in November placed in durance vilePlease don't kill me! four Arab Israelis on suspicion of illegal arms dealing and taking part in riots, the Shin Bet domestic security service said Thursday.

The operation was carried out jointly by the Shin Bet and police special forces, the security service said.

The detainees were named as Yahya Farid Ibrahim Abu Hajlah, 22; Firas Ismail Muhammad Faki, 18; Muhammad Taysir Atman Fiyumi, 22; and Uday Kaid Hassan Kharbosh, 21. All four are residents of the central Israeli town of Jaljulia, near Kfar Saba.

According to the Shin Bet, the operation began with a joint investigation with the IDF, which led to the arrest of Fiyumi as he returned from the West Bank city of Nablus following a meeting with weapons sellers to discuss the purchase of a gun.

The remainder of the detainees were arrested in the wake of Fiyumi's investigation, during which it emerged that he was both an arms dealer and a supporter of the Paleostinian terror group Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.

The investigation also revealed that Abu Hajlah was involved in various forms of weapons trafficking.

Furthermore, the Shin Bet said, the investigation showed that in October, at the height of festivities at the flashpoint Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the four had considered a shooting attack on a police car or Molotov cocktailing the local cop shoppe in Jaljulia. Ultimately, the security service said, the four dropped the idea for fear of being caught.

Abu Hajlah, Faki and Kharbosh were also involved in rioting, burning tires and throwing stones at coppers during festivities in October, the Shin Bet said, adding that the arrests most likely stopped the four from engaging in more serious acts of terrorism.

Fiyumi and Abu Hajlah have been indicted in Lod District Court for arms dealing, while Faki and Kharbosh were charged in Lod Magistrate's Court with causing a disturbance.

The announcement came hours after two Arab Israeli citizens from Jerusalem were indicted for planning to plant explosives at the Rio Hotel in Eilat several weeks ago.

Last month, six Arab Israelis from Jaljulia were arrested for preparing to join the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems...., after a seventh man successfully joined the organization by hang gliding into Syria from the Golan Heights.

[Ynet] Two Israeli Arabs from Jerusalem plotted to plant explosives at Be Center hotel in the southern resort city, targeting religious Jews staying there; vigilant hotel employees reported their suspicious activity, leading to their arrest.

Two Israeli Arabs were indicted on Thursday for attempting to commit a terror attack at the Be Center hotel in the southern resort city of Eilat. The attack was thwarted thanks to the vigilance of hotel employees, who reported the suspicious behavior of one of the defendants.

The two Jerusalem residents, Khaleel Nimri and Ashraf Salaymeh, were charged with conspiring to aid the enemy in a time of war.

The two defendants have no prior record of security-related offenses and do not belong to any organization. Their plans were foiled in the initial stages, before they had the chance to obtain explosives or other arms.

The two, security officials claim, were influenced by the incitement on Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, websites, but if the attack had gone ahead, it would not have been directly sanctioned by Hamas.

Nimri and Salaymeh met while they were working and living in Eilat. Two months ago, in the midst of the escalating tensions, the two decided to commit a terror attack against Jews, out of the desire to take Dire Revenge against the State of Israel, the indictment states.

Nimri also sought to avenge the death of his childhood friend Fadi Alloun, who was killed while committing a stabbing attack in Jerusalem in October.

According to the indictment, Nimri first suggested to commit a stabbing attack and kill a religious Jew. Salaymeh refused, claiming that they could get caught committing such an attack, which will make the effort meaningless in his eyes.

Salaymeh then suggested to plant explosives in one of the hotels in the city, a plan Khaleel agreed to. The two settled on Eilat's Be Center since it was a relatively small hotel with few people and a low level of security.

The two conducted surveillance of the Be Center hotel (also known as the Rio hotel) from the outside, monitoring a group of religious Jews staying there. One of the defendants even searched online for tutorial videos on how to build bombs.

Salaymeh also arrived at the hotel on November 30 in order to gather intelligence ahead of the attack. He pretended to be interested in renting out a room at the hotel for a long period of time, and on this pretense asked to see different rooms. One of the rooms that caught his eye, according to the indictment, was one located under the dining room.

Salaymeh asked the receptionist and the manager many questions that arose their suspicion, including how many entrances does the hotel have, what is the hotel's capacity, whether a group of religious Jews are expected at the hotel, ect.

[IsraelTimes] Paleostinian driver plows into troops at junction south of Nablus, is rubbed out

An Israeli soldier was injured Thursday in a suspected car-ramming attack near the West Bank settlement of Tapuah south of Nablus, the army said.

The attack took place at the Betot Junction between Tapuah and the Paleostinian town of Hawara.

The soldier was lightly injured in the attack. He received treatment on scene from IDF medics before being evacuated to Petach Tikva's Belinson hospital with wounds to his extremities, the Magen David Adom first-aid service said.

The army confirmed that the victim is a soldier.

The soldiers were on patrol in the area when a Paleostinian rammed his car into the troops.The driver was rubbed out on the scene, the army confirmed.

The attacker was named as Hassan Bazur, 22, from the village of Raba, outside Jenin.

On Saturday afternoon, another Israeli soldier was lightly hurt in a car-ramming attack in Hawara. The Paleostinian village, located near the city of Nablus, has been the site of a number of stabbings and car ramming attacks against Israeli soldiers, while the Tapuah Junction, just a few miles away, has been a focal point of attacks against Israeli civilians for years.

According to the UnitedNations 170 Paleostinians have been martyred, while the operations against the Zionist occupiers killed 26 Israelis since the start of the year and until December 28 in attacks and festivities.

During that same period more than 15,000 Paleostinians and 350 Israelis were maimed, the UN said on Wednesday.

Israeli security forces are reportedly concerned about increased Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... activity among Bedouins in the Negev and fear that members of the group -- who are Israeli citizens -- will carry out terror attacks.

According to a report in the Haaretz daily on Wednesday, the Shin Bet security service is more worried about the threat posed by Israeli terror cells aligned with the Islamic State than by the jihadi groups in the Sinai Peninsula and on the Syrian Golan Heights.

Last week, the Shin Bet busted a Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, cell that planned to carry out suicide and boom-mobileings against Israelis. One of the cell members, Fahdi Daoud Muhammad Abu Qaian, a 19-year-old Bedouin Israeli from the Negev, agreed to actually carry out an attack, the Shin Bet said.

During Abu Qaian's interrogation he revealed to officers that he agreed in October to either carry out a suicide kaboom with an explosive vest or drive an exploding car into some Israeli target. According to Haaretz, Abu Qaian admitted that apart from his Hamas membership, he supported the Islamic State and was linked to Salafist groups in the Bedouin village of Hura.

In other words, he was drawing at least three salaries, possibly more, not to mention multiple life insurance policies. His mother must be very pleased at his thoughtfulness.

In October, a Bedouin Israeli killed an IDF soldier and maimed 11 in a shooting attack in the Beersheba bus station. A friend of the killer later said the terrorist was enamored of the Islamic State jihadist group.

The Shin Bet has also announced numerous arrests of Bedouin would-be jihadists in the past two years, including several teachers, and two Bedouin doctors. A Bedouin Israeli was also reportedly killed while fighting in the ranks of the Islamic State in September 2014.

[ALMANAR.LB] The Syrian army attained a remarkable battlefield progress in central Sheikh Miskeen town in northern Daraa amid a large scale among the terrorists.

The Syrian army had earlier repelled a bully boy attack on Sheikh Miskeen and prevented them from regaining control over any of the sites that they lost in the town which represents an international transportation intersection between Damascus and Jordan.

Sheikh Miskeen also occupies a strategic position that links the Syrian southern provinces and forms a defense line to protect Damascus.

Moreover, the Syrian army, aided by the Syrian air force, continued establishing control over new areas across the country after targeting the terrorist organizations' positions and strongholds in many areas, inflicting heavy losses upon them in personnel and equipment.

[DAWN] QAMISHLI: At least 16 people were killed and 30 maimed by kabooms in three restaurants in the northeast of Syria on Wednesday, a monitoring group said, in attacks claimed by the bully boyIslamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (IS) group.

At least one of the blasts in the city of Qamishli was caused by a jacket wallah, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP.

An AFP correspondent in the city said the suicide kaboom took place in a restaurant in a Christian neighbourhood.

News agency Amaq, which supports IS murderous Moslems, said the group had grabbed credit for the attacks on the city, which lies near the border with The Sick Man of Europe Turkey...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... and close to Iraq.

"Dozens of dead and maimed in the bombings by the fighters of the Islamic State in different parts of Qamishli city," it said.

Qamishli is under the shared control of the Syrian regime and Kurdish authorities, who have declared zones of "autonomous administration" across parts of north and northeast Syria.

Syrian troops and Kurdish fighters have coordinated on security in Hasakeh province where IS murderous Moslems have tried to advance.

According to the Observatory, all three of the restaurant kabooms happened in a zone controlled by regime forces.

More than 250,000 people have been killed in Syria's war, which began in 2011 with anti-government protests but spiralled into a bloody conflict.

[Ynet] The US-led coalition carried out 24 strikes against Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....gunnies on Wednesday, putting pressure on the group around Ramadi and djinn-infested Mosul... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... in Iraq and along the Mar'a line in Syria, the US military said in a statement on Thursday.

Warplanes carried out nine air strikes near Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, which fell to Islamic State fighters in 2014. The coalition has stepped up strikes around Mosul over the past two weeks, hitting it more than 90 times, a pace three times that of the previous two-week period.

Coalition aircraft also continued to pound the Ramadi area as Iraqi troops worked to secure the city after recapturing it from the gunnies in recent days. Warplanes carried out five strikes around Ramadi on Wednesday and also conducted four against the group in Mar'a in western Syria.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.